Like bigger rivals Homeaway and Airbnb, HouseTrip.com allows homeowners to rent out properties on a short-term basis. It lists 130,000 properties, compared with more than 200,000 for Airbnb and 735,000 for Homeaway.

By the end of 2012, travellers will have booked more than 3 million nights via HouseTrip.

"There are 4-5 million second homes in Europe. In this environment people are looking to get a yield on them," said Tim Bunting, partner at Balderton.